May 12, Centuries ago .Somewhere in a grassy field

Jazmin and I sat in the grass, under a large bright blue moon.

“Y’know these blue moons only happen once in a lifetime,” I told Jazmin as I stared up at the sky.

“Is that so?” she asked, she also stared at the moon. Her deep brown skin seemed to glow in the moonlight’s gaze. Jazmin and I had only met a few days prior but we seemed to become friends quickly. She was a mysterious girl and didn't seem to speak unless spoken to. She had told me that she had moved up here for a safer life, so I assumed the place where she was from wasn't the greatest place to live in.

“Did they have moon’s like these where you're from, Jazmin?” I turned to look at her while talking, but her eyes were still fixated on the sky.

“Mhm, they sure did. Sometimes the moon glows even brighter than this,” I relaxed my body, she had a smooth comforting aura making anyone in her presence feel safer.

“I wish I could stay in this moment, just be young forever, just to stare at this moon. If living meant being able to do this then I would want to live forever,” I sighed a deep sigh, a cold white breath coming from my mouth. The night was cold, loud winds gusting left and right. The sky above us was pitch black; no stars shone, but the moon shone a single ray of light. And even though it was cold out, with Jazmin it felt as if everything was warmer like her presence had wrapped a blanket around me.

“Is that what you really want?” Jazmin asked, “To live forever?” her big dark eyes shifted and had now been staring right into my face, her eyelashes started to flutter in excitement.  I flinched a bit, she had never looked at me like this, but I got this sort of special feeling.

“Yeah of course!” I exclaimed “Who wouldn't want to live forever, I wish to live forever.” 

“I can make that happen,'' Jazmin said with a smile starting to form on her face, “Just follow some simple instructions,” She had never shown this behavior towards me. I thought she was playing a game with me and my excitement grew as I listened carefully to what she was about to say.

“Close your eyes shut, cover your ears, and try not to make a sound,” Jazmin stated, her voice getting quieter. I frantically followed her instructions excited to see what was going to happen next.

“Hey Jazmin, what kinda game is this? Did they play this where you're from?” I whispered, she didn't answer, as a matter of fact I didn't hear any noise. Everything was dead silent as if the planet stopped moving. The only thing I could hear was the faint sound of my own breathing, but I still kept my eyes and ears closed. I didn't want to break Jazmin’s rules, and before long I drifted off to sleep.

As the sun began to rise, I opened my eyes and stretched my body out.

“Hey, Jazmin!” I called out, I wanted to apologize to her for falling asleep, and not playing her game. I kept calling out her name but couldn't find her anywhere. I looked and asked around but no one could remember who she was, almost as if she had never existed, as if we weren't just laying in that grass staring at the moon just the night before. Jazmin was gone.

It's been centuries since Jazmin’s disappearance and it appears that she did play a game with me that night, a game which made me immortal.

November 10, 1996 . Hospital Room

“You can't keep doing this!” an angry woman marched into my hospital room without any hesitation, I rolled my eyes and groaned. I've already heard this talk one two many times from one too many people.

“Wow, not even a ‘Good morning’, or  ‘are you okay’?” I said in a joking manner, but she didn't seem to find me humorous and without making eye contact she slumped in the chair next to me and a silence struck the room. The smell of medicine and antiseptic started to burn my nose, it was quite a familiar scent for someone like me, who's been admitted to a hospital way too many times.

“Just tell me, why do you want to die so bad?” my visitor questioned while rubbing her forehead “You're a successful person with loving friends, what more could you ask for.” I couldn't give her my true answer to her question so I just replied with a simple:

“I'm just so tired right now,” I sighed, that answer usually saved me from further questioning.

“Tired people don't try to off themselves all the time,” She shot back at me, and she was right, but I'm different from most ‘tired people.’

 I've been on this planet for centuries. I've experienced countless losses, wars, sicknesses, all you can name it. My life has been filled with all sorts of emotion and feeling. I've done everything so nothing seems to suppress my boredom anymore. And worst of all, no matter what I do I always seem to survive. No matter how many times I've tried to drown, shoot and hurt myself, I always end up alive and in a hospital bed. I'm far more than tired.

“Hey, I brought you a magazine, thought you might be bored here” my visitor said, her mood shifting, she tossed me a business magazine and I nodded a little thanks.

I started to flip through the magazine mindlessly, the page colors mixing up and the numbers on the corners of every page increasing as I scanned the magazine. Then I suddenly stopped at a page. I had spotted a familiar face...

No way. 

This couldn't be. 

There, staring at me in a white floral dress, a familiar deep brown skin and mesmerizing dark eyes glowed at me through the page. I blinked twice to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, I wasn't.

 It was Jazmin. Except she wasn't going by Jazmin anymore her name was ‘Delilah D.’,a woman trying to advertise her new cafe called Delilah’s stationed in a nearby city.

  I sat up straight in my hospital bed. Adrenaline started to pump through my veins, I needed to find her, I needed to go see Jazmin. 

November 12, 1996. Train Station

The smell of the train station started to make my nose twitch. From seeing the first train being built then seeing it become a main way of transportation was a culture shock, sometimes I can’t believe all this time really passed.

“Are you sure about this?” A friend of mine said with a hand on my shoulder “Don't you think you should talk to a therapist right now, or a doctor?” a worried expression laid on his face.

“Stop worrying about me, I'm only going to visit an old friend,” I reassured, “Cmon, my train is leaving soon. I should head out,” I was in a rush, I had a mission that I needed to complete. I had to go see Jazmin.

“I'll see you guys another time okay, don't worry” I smiled looking at my friends who had gathered there waiting for my departure. 

Never in my days living had I told anyone about myself, me being immortal, I felt it was only my thing to suffer from. I wouldn't want anyone else knowing that, besides who knows what would've happened if anyone knew.

I started to wave goodbye, knowing that might be the last time I see them. I was used to abandoning friends and friends abandoning me, once you get used to a feeling like that you sort of become numb to it.

November 12, 1996. Delilah D’s Cafe

There I was standing in front of a small modern wooden cafe, where you could smell roasted coffee and tea from just outside the door. The cafe had an old rustic feeling to it but you could tell it had recently been built. It was located on a busy street where dozens of other small businesses resided. On the top of the cafe there was a sign that read ‘Delilah’s; Always Open!’ I cringed while reading it. The thought of Jazmin opening a cafe that serves coffee and delights never crossed my mind since she had hated the smell of roasted coffee.

It was a pitch black night outside the city lights were dimmed out, no stars were shining just a big bright blue moon staring right down at me, the same moon as that day, the day Jazmin had left, the day I became immortal. I shuddered while staring at that moon, a cold gust of wind brushed through my body and made my skin crawl and at that moment I decided to head into the cafe. 

Without hesitation I pushed the front door of the cafe open, heat bursting into my face as soon as I walked in, warming up my body instantly. The cafe was very cozy looking, books stacked up on selves, and a bar styled counter where a mini kitchen resided, and there were couches around the corners of the cafe where visitors could sit down to relax. 

The cafe was almost empty. Except there was one person there. The only person there was a barista sitting in the back of the counter, their back towards me, drinking a cup of water, but they had felt my presence coming in and turned around quickly to greet me.

My body shivered a bit, the barista was now staring directly at me. 

It was Jazmin.

 She had a smile forming on her face, I took a deep breath, no words coming from my mouth. 

“Ah, what a familiar face, I thought I’d see you again soon. I'm guessing you're here to talk to me...about a wish” Jazmin said, her voice flowing nicely bringing a familiar warmth with it.

“Jazmin this isn't what I wanted,” I said while steadily coming closer to her “Please make me normal again, I hate it, --I hate living this way” my voice started to get shaky, my thoughts slurring around in my head. 

No answer came from her as she examined me and the room, her facial expressions changing. I couldn't tell what she was thinking about so I stayed still, patiently waiting for a response.

“I can make that happen” Jazmin finally said, her dark eyes looking straight into mine, and her smirk got bigger, I recognized the face she was making, it was the same face she made as she granted my wish that day. “Just follow my instructions, listen carefully..” 

Those words must've  triggered something in me because in that moment I walked closer  to Jazmin and looked her dead in the eye, making her take sudden halt in her words.  I hadn't been this close to her in forever.

“Wait, listen to me,” I said, my frustration and confusion building up in my veins. “First you explain to me who you are and what you're doing.”

Jazmin stared at me, her face turned into a shock blank expression. Looking at her closely made me realize how different she looked, maybe it was because all this time passed and I had forgotten how she looked. Jazmin looked young like she was still a teenager climbing onto adulthood, and her face looked tired as if she hadn't slept in days, thin lines forming under her eyes. That's when I noticed she didn't seem to have any pupils, just dark black circles.

“I don't have any other choice,” Jazmin said quietly, a gulp following her words, her body turning away from mine.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked, curiosity filling up in my head.

“I mean--” she sighed “Have you ever made a wish upon a star?” 

“Yeah of course I have but I can't remember the last time I had done that...probably decades ago” I chuckled nervously, where was this conversation going?

“Consider me a star then” her eyes then turned to look at a window that faced the sky outside. “On nights like these, no star in sight and a blue moon out, I come out to be the star. I'm the star that people wish upon” her arm lifted and pointed at the moon.

“What are you talking about?” her words baffled me and I stood there blankly in confusion

“You made a wish and I granted it..you wished upon a star and it came true, now you're back to make another wish which I will also make come true” she giggled. I wondered if this job of hers made her happy, why she got excited and smirked everytime she mentioned the word ‘wish’.

“If you can be my star and grant me another wish, then make me--”

“You want me to reverse your wish” she cut me off, that smirk of hers forming on her face again, “I get that request a lot”

“You probably do..” I snarkily replied, I felt as if she was mocking me

“Just follow my instructions carefully..”  She then listed the same three instructions: shut your eyes, close your ears and don't make a sound. I followed those steps and waited, minutes that felt like hours went by and nothing happened. I grew impatient. I really was sick and tired of waiting.

“Listen, Jazmin, I don't want to play another game with you. Just please fix this, fix me” I said starting to get frustrated, my voice getting louder. 

No sound came from Jazmin. 

But then in a quick moment that felt less than a second a soft voice whispered inaudible words into my ears and at that moment everything went silent. I lost all feeling in my body. What...that bright blue moon glowing radiantly. When I opened my eyes I couldn't see anything but that blue moon, that same blue moon that shone in pitch black skies of the night. 

I went deaf, but the silence seemed to calm me, I couldn't hear anything, not even my own breath. And my last sight...that bright blue moon glowing radiantly against the darkness and beside it a single star shining brighter than any other light I had seen before.

Say more about Jazmin's motivation.  Why did she do this in the first place?  Why is she suddenly willing to change?